“In the last five years, over 8 thousand operations have been carried out in Calabria for malignant tumors, which concern various pathologies. This, despite its drama, is an important message because it means that high-level surgery can be performed in Calabria.” This is one of the data that emerged from the XXI biennial congress of the Calabrian Association of Surgical Sciences which took place in Cosenza, at the provincial palace. It was made public by Professor Bruno Nardo, director of “Falcone” surgery at the “Annunziata” hospital in Cosenza and scientific director of the scientific assembly. In two days of work, Calabrian speakers and guests from different parts of Italy discussed issues related to artificial intelligence, the use of robots, the use of digital technologies, but also the crisis of vocations and the need to ensure that young specialists remain in Calabria. On the crisis of enrollments in specialization in surgery, according to Professor Carlo Talarico, president of the Calabrian Association of Surgical Sciences, “the causes are multiple: the very difficult course of studies, the career possibilities, which in Italy are very unattractive, medical-legal litigation, quality of life, and salaries which are very low for the European average”. As for the need to retain young doctors in our region, “we are trying – said Professor Nardo – to offer a training network through the general surgery specialization school, which we will inaugurate very soon (as early as the next academic year, ed.) , and activating master’s degrees in laparoscopic and robotic surgery”. Honorary president of the congress Professor Antonino Cavallari. The inaugural ceremony featured two masterful readings, one of which was on Artificial Intelligence, by prof. Gianluigi Greco, from Unical, and another on technological innovations in surgery, of which Professor Mario Testini, from the University of Bari, was the speaker. The second day of work dealt with the regional oncology network. As part of the proceedings of the meeting, prizes named after “Francesco Crucitti”, “Rocco Docimo” and “Antonio Petrassi” were awarded, in order to remember the great protagonists of surgery and ideally connect them to the new generations of Calabrian surgeons.
